Which reading do you prefer and why?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

Last edited Fri Jul 12, 2013, 07:55 PM - Edit history (1)

0 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Manual Blood Pressure with the human ear and stethoscope
	0 (0%)
	Automated Blood Pressure reading with LED lights
	0 (0%)
	wtf are you talking about
	0 (0%)
	other
	0 (0%)
	Robb has a bat
	0 (0%)
	Vampires can take accurate blood pressure readings
	0 (0%)
	Those cuffs are too damn tight
	0 (0%)
	I use the bariatric cuff
	0 (0%)
	I use the child cuff
	0 (0%)
	cuffs are kinky
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Tuesday Afternoon!

I prefer the first choice because I was a nurse, and I learned how to take an accurate blood pressure.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. I will grant you that, Peggy ... I would like some more opinions before I make further comment.

Thanks for participating in my poll

[Callmecrazy]

2. If you know how to take a manual BP...

you can take your own pressure without the stethoscope simply by watching the gauge and listening to the pulse in your ears as the cuff (sphygmomanometer) deflates.
I like to second guess the nurse when my BP is checked.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. How quickly do you think the pressure can change, up OR down? -

Do you think you can regulate your blood pressure from one reading to the next?

[Callmecrazy]

6. Absolutely.

Blood pressure is not static. Your pressure changes just from standing up. Hold your breath while being checked and it will be different from a sitting pressure. Raise your cuffed arm over your head and you'll get a different reading.
An accurate reading is usually taken from a sitting or laying position while holding still and breathing normally.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. then why do you say you are second guessing someone else of even the machine reading?

why does your reading discount their reading?

why is yours right and theirs is wrong?

[Callmecrazy]

9. Oh that isn't what I meant...

Using the stethoscope is more accurate of course. I just like to see how close I get to the nurses reading using my method. I say second guess because I'm always pretty close. I would always accept the nurses reading unless she rushed through it. Releasing the pressure in the cuff too fast can give an inaccurate reading if you have a slow pulse.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. Do you think that a person can have a reading of, let us say,

130/100 by automation

and 30 minutes later

have a manual reading of 98/68

and both be right or is one of them wrong?

If one is wrong, which one and why.

Please show your math

[Kali]

15. oh I see more what you are getting at

in the doctor's office those digital things NEVER work on me - they just generate error messages, they always have to do it manually,

yes I think it could drop that much in a few minutes no matter the type of device, but one way I think they could alleviate white coat problems is NOT weigh you first

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. talk about sending my BP through the roof!

the scale = the bane of my existence

[Callmecrazy]

17. Hmm. In my personal opinion...

and keeping in mind that I have been out of the medical field for over 20 years, I would trust a manual reading over an automated one. I tend to trust my own eyes and ears over that of some little wrap-on-your-wrist machine. I'm not even sure how those things work. I've gotten wildly varying readings from those and the sit down machines at the pharmacy have always shown my pressure to be high.
BTW if you had those two reading in a 30 minute time frame I think you would be bleeding internally IMHO and should get to an ER STAT. Perhaps a ruptured spleen?

And please keep in mind that I haven't worked in Emergency medicine since I got out of the Army in 1990.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

18. but, the first reading was automated and the second reading was manual. Does that change

your opinion and if so why or why not.

[Callmecrazy]

19. Well, like I said...

I know that my pressure at rest is around 112/74 using a cuff and stethoscope and when I use a digital meter and it tells me my pressure is say 128/82, I'm suspicious of that reading. I'm just more comfortable watching an analog needle slowly bounce with each heartbeat while listening to my pulse with a stethoscope.
I'm sure with a quality digital meter it is as accurate as a manual reading if it's calibrated properly. I guess I'm just old school.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

21. do you also account for the fact that your BP can and does fluctuate throughout the day

and also changes when going from lying to sitting to standing, orthostatic BPs.

and what about those automated cuffs used in ERs that take BPs at any interval ordered by a Doctor.

also, wouldn't the digital meter have to maintain calibration?

[Callmecrazy]

23. Those machines in the ER?

We're talking high quality and regularly checked and calibrated equipment. Much more so than the ones you buy off the shelf at your local Walgreens. Drop it a few times and I'll bet the calibration can be disturbed. And a low battery might give an inaccurate reading. Who knows? I know what I'm listening for with a stethoscope. And there are no batteries. I trust my own eyes and ears.
But don't get me wrong, TA. Shop around for a good digital meter and I'm sure you'll find one that gives good, accurate readings.

Until it doesn't.
But then how would you know?
Just my opinion.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

25. I never mentioned what kind of automated machine, did I?

You assumed you knew what kind of machine I was talking about. You also assumed why I was asking the question.

Actually, I am not in the market for a machine as my BP is within parameters.

These questions arose from a work scenario.

but, thanks for the advice and suggestions.

[olddots]

5. is Robb's bat a vampire ?

Is there a chance of being gassed for the reading ?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. Robb is the King of the Vampire Bats!!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

11. Rather use my own machine. I had a young nurse once who screwed up and freaked.

I have stage 2 hypertension under control with meds plus I have "white coat blood pressure" really bad. This nurse somehow came up with a really, really high reading and went running for the doctor like it was an emergency. The doctor re-checked and it was just a bit on the high side.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. thank your for your comments. Do you care to vote in the poll?

[Kali]

13. bwahahahah got me!

thought we were getting literary.

I use a wrist cuff digital. Consumer reports said it was more accurate than the same brand's arm cuff (omicron?)

hanging at the upper edge of normal most of the time 125/75 (while being a total fat ass)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. literary ... in the lounge ?! who me ?!

I'm still looking for a drink of water, Kali.

I am inclined to go with automation, also. Seems to be a more standardized application than the human ear.

[WCGreen]

20. For me...

this always does the trick..

[Tuesday Afternoon]

22. already a classic!

[mimi85]

28. I'd never seen this.

That coffee barely escaped the keyboard. Thanks for the smile, much needed.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

24. Human readings work when...

...power is out and batteries are dead.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

26. ! so True !

[mimi85]

27. A long time nurse

told me to always have your BP taken on your right arm as it's closest to your heart. If you have a machine at home, try it. I think she's 100% right. I've even told nurses to switch arms. When I explained why, when asked, they've all said it makes perfect sense.

[hopemountain]

29. my heart is on my left side...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

30. do you mean to say your Left arm?

You do realize that mastectomies can not have their BP taken on that side.

What if they are a double mastectomy?

What if they have no arms at all?

What then?

But, Yes you would be correct in that the LEFT arm is optimal.

[mimi85]

31. Yep, sorry -

that's what I meant.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

32. is easy to do -